Mending You And I

Chapter Sixteen

Third Person's POV:

Maybe the only thing bad about David Wilson going to jail was Cornelia's grief. No matter how many times Maryam texted her or called her, she would get no response. She wasn't even reading her messages. Maryam could just imagine what she was going through.

When she got out of bed, thinking hard about what Abdullah said to her before leaving, she quickly made for her room. The moment she got up, her stomach ache rose again, making her wince in pain and let out a groan. It took her a minute to adjust her weight and balance herself.

Then, she started walking but as soon as she exited Abdullah's room, she was met by three maids waiting for her, standing outside like guards. With a frown, she looked at three of them,  studying their appearance. There were two brunettes and one blonde and all three of them wore long brown and skin-colored maid uniforms.

They acknowledged her presence by straightening their posture and quickly getting into their work mode. "You're early out of bed, Mistress. How are you feeling now?" the brunette in the middle asked, her gaze moving to the ground as she spoke. Maryam felt weird being given so much extra respect.

"Uhh... I'm feeling much better now, Alhamdulillah. I just need to change." she told her, smiling sheepishly from time to time. With a nod, the brunette spoke again. "Master ordered us to help you dress and make sure that you rest the whole day. If you allow me, I'll bring your clothes to you while Sophie and Anna help you with your hairstyle and manicure," she replied almost immediately in a robotic voice as if she had learned those words by heart.

Maryam looked towards the other two, Anna and Sophie unsure of who was who. "At least let me go to my room." she tried to argue but the brunette didn't budge. "My apologies, Mistress but I've been given strict orders to keep you here. We won't trouble you for long."

Maryam sighed in defeat and nodded. Then the maid gestured towards the other two with her eyes. They stepped up and walked closer to Maryam, taking her by the arms. "Let us take you back inside, Mistress," they spoke simultaneously and led her back into Abdullah's room without letting her protest.

As one of them, Sophie brushed her hair, the other applied nail polish to her hands. Maryam just sat awkwardly in front of the dressing table, staring into her reflection. She was still feeling the pain in her stomach and had an unnerving feeling that Ivan literally did crush her insides when he punched her there.

The thought made her blood boil. She wanted to be there when he was being beaten by Abdullah's men and see how miserable he looked. She was against violence but going through it from a young age made her rigid and seeing it in movies didn't bother her as it did to other girls. But of course, real-life was much different and truth be told, the punch hurt.

It was a good thing she was sitting or else the horrifying memories from that night engulfing her again would make her pass out for another day. She rubbed her temples with her free hand and that calmed her a little.

Once Anna was done with her nails, she stood up from the ground and dusted off the dirt on her dress, and asked, "What would you like to wear today?"
"Anything is fine. I would prefer something loose and comfy though." Once Anna had left, Maryam grabbed her phone and checked whether she had received any response from Cornelia or not.

Disappointed, she put it back.

"You seem unwell, Mistress. Is anything the problem?" Sophie questioned politely, clipping a few straightened strands of her hair to the side to straighten the rest. Maryam looked at Sophie's reflection in the mirror as she did her work.

"I have a little stomach ache. It's nothing big," she replied. A moment of silence passed when Sophie started a small conversation. "Mind if I say something?"